Problem: A prism is constructed so that its vertical edges are parallel to the $z$-axis.  Its cross-section is a square of side length 10.

[asy]
import three;

size(180);
currentprojection = perspective(6,3,2);

triple A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H;

A = (1,1,0);
B = (1,-1,0);
C = (-1,-1,0);
D = (-1,1,0);
E = A + (0,0,1);
F = B + (0,0,3);
G = C + (0,0,4);
H = D + (0,0,2);

draw(surface(E--F--G--H--cycle),gray(0.7),nolight);
draw(E--F--G--H--cycle);
draw(A--E);
draw(B--F);
draw(C--G,dashed);
draw(D--H);
draw(B--A--D);
draw(B--C--D,dashed);
[/asy]

The prism is then cut by the plane $4x - 7y + 4z = 25.$  Find the maximal area of the cross-section.
We can assume that the square base is centered at $(0,0,0).$  All the vertices of the base lie on a circle with radius $\frac{10}{\sqrt{2}} = 5 \sqrt{2},$ so we can assume that the vertices of the base are
\begin{align*}
A &= (5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, 5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta), \\
B &= (-5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, 5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta), \\
C &= (-5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, -5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta), \\
D &= (5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, -5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta).
\end{align*}The vertices of the cut are then at
\begin{align*}
E &= \left( 5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, 5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, \frac{35 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta - 20 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta + 25}{4} \right), \\
F &= \left( -5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, 5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, \frac{35 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta + 20 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta + 25}{4} \right), \\
G &= \left( -5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, -5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, \frac{-35 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta + 20 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta + 25}{4} \right), \\
H &= \left( 5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, -5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, \frac{-35 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta - 20 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta + 25}{4} \right).
\end{align*}Note that quadrilateral $EFGH$ is a parallelogram.  The center of the parallelogram is
\[M = \left( 0, 0, \frac{25}{4} \right).\]The area of triangle $EMF$ is then given by $\frac{1}{2} \|\overrightarrow{ME} \times \overrightarrow{MF}\|.$  We have that
\begin{align*}
\overrightarrow{ME} \times \overrightarrow{MF} &= \left( 5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, 5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, \frac{35 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta - 20 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta}{4} \right) \times \left( -5 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta, 5 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta, \frac{35 \sqrt{2} \cos \theta + 20 \sqrt{2} \sin \theta}{4} \right) \\
&= \left( 50 \cos^2 \theta + 50 \sin^2 \theta, -\frac{175}{2} \cos^2 \theta - \frac{175}{2} \sin^2 \theta, 50 \cos^2 \theta + 50 \sin^2 \theta \right) \\
&= \left( 50, -\frac{175}{2}, 50 \right),
\end{align*}so the area of triangle $EMF$ is
\[\frac{1}{2} \left\| \left( 50, -\frac{175}{2}, 50 \right) \right\| = \frac{225}{4}.\]Therefore, the area of parallelogram $EFGH$ is $4 \cdot \frac{225}{4} = \boxed{225}.$  In particular, the area of the planar cut does not depend on the orientation of the prism.